National pastime all about netting - and cup holders

We settled into our seats at a hopefully soon-to-be-demolished baseball stadium in suburban Boise just prior to a game a couple of weeks ago.

While working on that first hot dog, I sized up the height of the screen behind home plate, and the location of our seats — behind home plate, just off to the right a little.

“Hey, you know what?” I thought out loud. “If someone fouls back a pitch at just the right angle, we could take one off the dome.”

When you’re old and you don’t feel like bringing your glove to these games anymore, you think of these things.

I’m a big fan of netting at baseball games — the more the merrier.

Sure, looking through a net — especially when you’re only a few rows away — isn’t ideal.

But neither is leaving in an ambulance.

We saw three minor league baseball games on our recent road trip, and safety (translation — sitting behind protective netting) was a factor in where we sat.

At all three parks, protective netting stretched to the end of the dugouts. But those sitting farther down the lines were in danger. In the Triple-A game in Salt Lake City (the Salt Lake Bees vs. the Oklahoma City Dodgers), several of those batters — noticeably bigger and stronger than the younger hitters at games in Boise and in Orem, Utah — sent some vicious liners into the seats past the first- and third-base bags.

Perhaps this will inspire some genius to invent netting which looks as close to clear as possible.

NOTHING AGAINST Boise, its ballpark operations, the nearby thick bacon and the actual field the short-season class A Hawks play on — which was in terrific shape.

The most entertaining part of the night, actually, was the dog that sprinted onto the field for a couple of innings to retrieve the bat following an at-bat by the Hawks. Not sure who was in charge of wiping the slobber off the bat handle.

But besides that ...

The seating area at Memorial Stadium is antiquated (old seats, and no cup holders, for starters), though the city has an excuse — Boise wants a new stadium for its minor league baseball team, so no need for a coat of fresh paint here.

However, Boise State also wants a stadium for its baseball team, which is returning following an absence of 40 years.

Sure — build two new baseball stadiums in Boise, and have both sit empty for most of the year.

Or, do what they do at our next two stops for ballgames — in Salt Lake City and Orem, Utah.

In Salt Lake, the Bees, a Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels, play home games at Smith’s Ballpark near downtown. In the spring, the University of Utah baseball team plays at Smith’s Ballpark (which has cup holders), some 4 miles away and down the hill from the Utah campus. There’s a little overlap in scheduling — the Bees’ home opener was April 11, and the Utes’ home finale was May 25. Utah had the field to itself for roughly one month before sharing it with the Bees. Then the Bees had the field to themselves for the final three-plus months of their season.

Some 40 miles south in Orem, a few miles just up the road from Provo, Utah Valley University plays baseball in a nice little on-campus stadium, UCCU Ballpark (which has cup holders). UVU’s final home game was May 14, when Washington State won by a touchdown, 20-13.

In the summer the Orem Owlz, a Rookie League (Pioneer League) affiliate of the Angels, play there. The Owlz’s season opener was June 14 at home.

No overlap.

SO MAYBE Boise State, which looks like it will get its stadium built first, can lease it to the Hawks for the summer, when the Broncos don’t need the facility anyway.

Maybe the Hawks will throw in Dog the Bat Retriever.

And don’t forget the cup holders.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter@CdAPressSports.